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breakthroughs in medical research: activity ideas
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- Fleming's Fungus to the Rescue
Grade Level: 3-5
Subject: Science & Technology; The Arts; Social StudiesAsk the students to describe how it feels to have a bad sore throat. Share some reasons we may get a sore throat: when we have a cold virus, when we have an allergy, or when we have harmful bacteria in our body.
Visit the Web site at Northern State University (listed below) and draw the three different shapes (coccus: circular; bacillus: rod-shaped; and spirillum: spiral) on the board; explain that bacteria look somewhat like these shapes. Allow time for students to draw each type on construction paper, cut out the shapes, and glue them onto a poster. Direct them to label each shape. Emphasize that some kinds of bacteria help people, such as bacteria in our intestine, while some are harmful and even cause diseases like "strep throat."
Share the following information on Alexander Fleming, the scientist who discovered penicillin in 1929. As Fleming studied bacteria in his lab, he made a very important, but accidental medical breakthrough. He left a pile of dirty equipment in his lab long enough that mold -- a kind of fungus -- grew on it. Imagine what he thought when he saw that the mold, called penicillin, had killed the bacteria that he had been studying!
Discuss with the class that scientists made this mold into the antibiotic medicine that has saved millions of lives. Doctors prescribe antibiotics when people get bacterial infections like strep throat. Ask students if they have ever had to take this kind of medicine; antibiotics have probably saved the lives of many in this class. Imagine...when a person gets sick with a bacterial infection like an infected tooth or cut, Lyme disease, or a case of strep throat, antibiotics that were developed from a fabulous fungus can come to the rescue!
Online Resources
A Science Odyssey: Alexander Fleming:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm28pe.htmlNOVA: Cancer Warrior:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/cancer/discoveries2.htmlKidsHealth: Strep Throat:
http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/health_problems/infection/strep_throat.htmlHow Stuff Works: Your Immune System:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/immune-system10.htmKidsHealth: Antibiotics:
http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/word/a/word_antibiotics.htmlPrint Resources
DNA: The Secret of Life by Andrew Berry and James D. Watson
More Recommended Resources
- Got Genes?
Grade Level: 5-8
Subject: Science & Technology; Social StudiesPrepare a chart on the board, with these characteristics: hair color, eye color, and widow's peak. Make a tally mark for each student that has: brown hair or other hair color; blue eyes or other eye color; widow's peak or no widow's peak. (Widow's peak is part of the hairline above the forehead that points down; no widow's peak shows an even hairline.)
Share with the class that we all have unique and special things about us; we have our own one-of-a-kind "blueprint" which makes us...us! Since this blueprint, called DNA, is in each of our body cells, our body has certain characteristics such as hair color and eye color. How did scientists find out about these body blueprints?
Tell the class that in 1953 -- about 50 years ago -- scientists James Watson and Francis Crick discovered the structure of DNA, which stands for deoxyribonucleic acid. As for what DNA looks like...picture a ladder that gets twisted around and is called a double helix.
Share that this breakthrough has led to many amazing discoveries. Scientists now have a much better understanding of living things and have been able to help people in many ways. Explain that scientists who study genes and DNA are called geneticists. These scientists study and work with the genes of living things, even plants!
Allow the class to imagine a scientist's working to change a plant's DNA so that the plant could make its own pesticide (bug killer). Geneticists are working on the DNA of plants to make "better" plants -- those with characteristics that people would like. Would you like a bigger and tastier tomato? Maybe you could be a scientists studying to make a two-foot long banana! Do you think geneticists could work on the genes of a cow so that it produces chocolate milk?
Tell the class that these changes may sound great, but some people are concerned about this kind of work, which is called genetic engineering. They are not sure if the food from genetically engineered plants is safe for people to eat.
There are other scientists working on experiments called cloning. Describe that cloning involves using DNA to make an exact copy of a certain living thing. In 1996 the DNA of an adult sheep was used to make a baby sheep. This lamb, named Dolly, was an exact copy of the sheep whose DNA was used; the lamb had the exact same blueprints as the adult sheep.
Ask the class why they think some people are concerned about cloning. Tell them that some scientists are cloning animals and a few scientists would like to clone people! The idea of cloning a person concerns many people because they do not think it is morally right to do this.
Set up an even number of three to four-student teams. Direct the teams to make a list of pros or cons for some of these controversial topics. Allow time for students to debate these issues. Alternately, assign students to discuss these topics at home.
Remind the class of the wonderful and complicated breakthroughs that came out of Watson and Crick's discovery -- the DNA model.
Online Resources
A Science Odyssey: DNA Workshop:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/tryit/dna/NOVA: "Secret of Photo 51":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/photo51How Stuff Works: Cells:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/cell4.htmHow Stuff Works: Human Cloning:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/human-cloning.htmPrint Resources
Useborne Internet Linked Introduction to Genes and DNA by Anne Clayborne and Stephen Moncrieff
More Recommended Resources
- Give It a Shot
Grade Levels: 4-8
Subjects: Science & Technology; Social StudiesDisplay a container of milk and point out the term pasteurized to your students. Tell the class that this milk has gone through pasteurization -- a process that makes the milk safe to drink. Write this term on the board and underline pasteur. Tell the students that a scientist named Louis Pasteur developed this process in the 1860's. Share that Pasteur made many other incredible medical discoveries.
Louis Pasteur (in the 1860's) and Edward Jenner (in the 1790's) were two early scientists that worked on different kinds of vaccines. The medical breakthroughs called vaccines have saved millions of lives.
Ask the class what they know about vaccines. Help students to understand that a vaccine is usually given to people as an injection or needle. With the special things in it, we become immune to a disease; in other words, we do not get sick from this disease. Because of the vaccine, if we get near someone with this certain disease, our body recognizes and is ready to fight off the disease.
Share that other scientists have studied diseases and developed vaccines. Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin (in the 1950's) developed vaccines for a terrible disease called polio. The virus that causes this disease can kill or harm people. Thanks to the breakthroughs of Salk and Sabin, people can get vaccinated and avoid getting sick.
Today scientists are studying to develop a cure, better treatments, and perhaps a vaccine for AIDS -- caused by a virus known as HIV.
Online Resources
American Experience: "Influenza 1918":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/influenza/index.htmlA Science Odyssey:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm52sa.htmlNOVA: Bioterror (Making Vaccines):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/bioterror/vaccines.htmlNOVA: Killer Disease on Campus (Vaccines):
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/meningitis/vacc_polio.htmlHow Stuff Works: Pasteurization:
http://home.howstuffworks.com/question147.htmPolio Vaccine:
http://www.cincinnatichildrens.org/about/history/sabin.htmPrint Resources
Mavericks, Miracles, and Medicine: The Pioneers Who Risked Their Lives to Bring Medicine Into the Modern Age by Judith Fenster
More Recommended Resources
The Vaccine Book by Barry Bloom and Paul-Henri Lamber
- Gulp!
Grade Level: 6-8
Subjects: Science & Technology; Social Studies; Reading & Language ArtsTake a class vote on the students' favorite food. Write the name of the food on a piece of paper and tell the class that you are going to "eat" this food. Tear up the paper. Ask students to explain how tearing the paper is somewhat like eating -- chewing tears up food.
Prepare students by telling them that the food in today's lab is not to be eaten. Distribute a cracker, paper cup, and a spoon to each student. Direct the students to break up the cracker with their fingers and place the crumbs in the cup. Place a teaspoon of water into each cup and allow time for students to mix the solution with their spoon. Ask volunteers to describe how the water and the mixing change the cracker. Tell them that saliva in their mouths and the action of chewing help break down food.
Relate to the class that the human body has a system or group of organs that works together to break down food. This system is called the digestive system, which includes the mouth, stomach, small and large intestine. When food reaches the small intestine, it is so tiny that it travels into and through the blood and is delivered to all our body cells; the cells need food in order to stay alive. (Whatever is not used by the body is expelled through the large intestine as wastes.)
Have students write a short story or poem as though they were miniaturized and travel through their best friend's digestive system, only to end up as food in their friend's big toe.
Share with the class that adults sometimes have trouble with parts of their digestive system. One problem is that tumors or growths can develop in their large intestine. How do we know they are there?
Tell the class that doctors use a test in adults known as a colonoscopy. They send a scope (similar to a camera) into the large intestine to see if there are any growths that might be cancerous. Since this test is not very comfortable, the medical breakthrough known as a visual colonoscopy is becoming popular and seems to be more accurate than the traditional colonoscopy. In this medical procedure, doctors can examine the person's large intestine (or colon) using tools including the CAT scan and x-rays. With this technology, doctors can actually see 3-D images of the large intestine and check for any growths! With this amazing medical breakthrough, more people will probably have one of these tests, which may save lives!
Online Resources
WHO: Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome:
http://www.who.int/csr/sars/en/Inner Body: Digestive System:
http://www.innerbody.com/image/digeov.htmlKids Health: Digestive System:
http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/body/digest_noSW.htmlInfo Please: The Human Digestive System:
http://www.infoplease.com/ce6/sci/A0857763.htmlWired News: Behind the Six Degrees of SARS :
More Recommended Resources
http://www.wired.com/news/medtech/0,1286,58985,00.html
- That Makes Sense
Grade Level: 3-5
Subjects: Science & Technology; Reading & Language ArtsPlay a tape you have made of common sounds, such as a snap, a whistle, a cat's meow, and a musical instrument's sound. (Alternately, have the students close their eyes while you make various sounds in class.) As the students identify the sounds, have them explain how different it felt to listen without seeing what was happening.
Share that the ear collects information for us. Ask a volunteer to name the body organ that receives all the information on what you hear, see, feel, smell, and taste and figures it all out. Help them to understand that the brain does this job. Share that there are special nerves that go from the ear to the brain, the eye to the brain, the nose to the brain, etc. It is through these nerves that the message of what you sense gets to your brain.
Hold one end of a piece of yarn and give the other end to one student. Describe the student as the ear; explain that you are the brain. The yarn represents the hearing nerve that carries the information from the ear to the brain. Ask a volunteer to describe what happens to a person's hearing if something goes wrong with their hearing nerve or with their ear. Explain that the person would not be able to hear correctly.
Share that scientists are trying to help people who have trouble hearing. Some people have hearing loss because the hearing nerve is not working correctly; others may have trouble with parts of their ear.
In some cases, when a person's hearing nerve is working but the ear is not, doctors can help people with a medical breakthrough called a cochlear implant. A person with a cochlear implant has surgery to place a small piece of equipment in the inner ear. Then, the person wears special equipment so they can pick up sounds of people talking and things going on. In this way, since the ear does not work, the message (information on sounds) goes right to the hearing nerve and the brain!
Ask the children to write a short story as though they have never heard before, but now -- due to a cochlear implant -- they can hear for the first time.
Online Resources
How Stuff Works: Hearing:
http://science.howstuffworks.com/hearing.htmInner Body: Nervous System:
http://www.innerbody.com/image/nervov.htmlCochear Implants:
http://wuphysicians.wustl.edu/dept.asp?pageID=15&ID=8Kids Health: The Ear:
More Recommended Resources
http://www.kidshealth.org/kid/body/ear_noSW.html
- Human Genome Project
Grade Level: 9-12
Subjects: Science & Technology; Social Studies; The ArtsJames Watson and Francis Crick's Nobel Prize winning paper on the structure of DNA in April of 1953 was as major a breakthrough for biology as was the Dutch cloth merchant Anton van Leeuwenhoek's use of a magnifying lens in the 1600's. Today DNA is used to exonerate or convict suspects, identify family members and trace the ancestry of certain traits. Watson and Crick's seminal paper has ultimately led to the knowledge that we have amassed and are continuing to glean from the Human Genome Project.
In 1990 the United States Department of Energy launched one of the largest most ambitious scientific projects ever undertaken. Known as the Human Genome Project its conclusion was announced in April of 2003. What was accomplished by this staggering outlay of capital and work hours? What questions has it raised? Where do we go from here?
Have your students use doegenomes.org to research one or more of the following, or any questions that they may have of their own. What percent of all human DNA seems to code for a gene/protein? What percent of DNA is common to our species? How many human genes are there in all? What percent of the genes that have been identified so far have also had their functions identified?
Using the chromosome viewer, or another site of your choosing, have your students take one specific chromosome and look at one particular disorder that is found on that chromosome. Or, if someone close to them has a genetic disorder have the student look up that disorder to see which chromosome carries it. Have your students present thumbnail sketches of the normal expression of the gene and how the mutation has altered the expression. How has the protein gone wrong? How is this inherited, autosomal recessive/dominant, sex linked, sex limited? How serious is the mutation of this particular gene?
Here are some of the ethical questions that your students can explore: Who owns your genes? If a gene therapy is developed that has been originally derived from your cells should you share in the profit? Why or why not?
Online Resources
NewsHour Online: Unraveling the Genome:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/forum/march00/genome_form.htmlNOVA: "Cracking the Code of Life":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/genome/her_gen.htmlOur Genes, Our Choices:
http://www.pbs.org/fredfriendly/ourgenes/National Human Genome Research Institute:
http://www.nhgri.nih.gov/Print Resources
The Human Genome Project: What Does Decoding DNA Mean for Us? by Kevin Alexander Boon
More Recommended Resources
The Human Genome Project by James Toriello
- Who Gets an Organ Transplant?
Grade Level: 9-12
Subjects: Social Studies; Science & Technology; Reading & Language ArtsOrgan transplants save lives, but not everyone who wants or needs an organ transplant can receive it. There are many issues/questions about this controversial issue; What are the obstacles that must be overcome for an organ recipient? Are all potential recipients treated equally? Is there a National Clearing House for them? How does someone get on the list? How many people die each year waiting for an organ? Is there a way to get your name moved higher up on the list? Who makes those literal life and death decisions for others?
Using the above questions as guides, have students interview staff at the local hospital or medical center. Is your community large enough to have a bioethics committee who would make those transplant decisions? (If your local hospital does not make those decisions, you may want to have your students interview chaplains and/or medical personnel about how the decision to "pull the plug" is made.)
Once students have learned all they can from the professionals have them stage a debate in class. Establish the panel, a physician, a chaplain, and a medical ethicist. Give your students a scenario from your area, a dock worker or truck driver desperately injured by heavy machinery or an executive felled by an unforeseen heart attack or stroke. Or perhaps you could take a famous one that might be in the news currently and use that situation.
Does this person already have a living will? If so, will that be enforced? What is the role of the family members? Do they have any say in this? What decision will your students make on behalf of the injured person? How do they justify that decision to themselves, the family and the staff? If possible have some of the professionals who might be called on to make these decisions present to inform the students how realistic your students debate really was.
Once the students have enacted this debate, have them journal their thoughts on this subject.
Online Resources
A Science Odyssey:
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aso/databank/entries/dm54ki.htmlFrontline: "Organ Farm":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/organfarm/NOVA: "Electric Heart":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/eheart/Religion and Ethics Weekly: Organ Donations:
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week311/cover.htmlHow Stuff Works: Organ Transplants:
http://health.howstuffworks.com/organ-transplant.htmPrint Resources
Raising the Dead: Organ Transplants, Ethics and Society, by Ronald Munson
More Recommended Resources
The Ethics of Organ Transplants: The Current Debate by Arthur L. Caplan and Daniel H. Coehlo
- Research on Animals
Grade Level: 9-12
Subjects: Science & Technology; Social Studies; The ArtsHow have all of the breakthroughs in modern medicine been made? From the discovery and use of antibiotics in the 1920s and 1940s, to the present day replacement of damaged or diseased organs saving tens of thousands of human lives each year in this country alone, what role have animals played in all of this for us? What role should they play? Might that role, those roles, change over time?
Have your students learn the difference between the fundamental terms in vivo and in vitro.
Why is that difference significant? How might cells behave differently in those two environments? What would affect cells in one of those environments and wouldn't affect them in another? Have them talk with each other about how they see these differences and the significance of them.
Do your students think that the pathogen/s and/or host cells will behave differently in each situation? Why or why not? Could they test that hypothesis or find others who have? Are there situations in which one (in vivo or in vitro) is better than the other and vice versa? Can research go on without either one of them? Why or why not?
Using a specific disease such as polio, anthrax or HIV have your students research the ways in which both in vivo and in vitro techniques have been used. How would elimination of either technique impacted the research? With the current concern about viruses, such as the flu virus, "jumping species" should animals still be used?
Many students are understandably and genuinely concerned about the care of the animals used in medical research. Can stray animals be taken into laboratories and used for research? Have your students investigate the local, state and federal laws that protect those animals and present what they have learned to their class. Perhaps they could go down to the middle or elementary school with a poster presentation of what they have learned.
Online Resources
Johns Hopkins University: Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing:
http://caat.jhsph.edu/Animal Care:
http://www.aphis.usda.gov/ac/Foundation for Biomedical Research:
http://www.fbresearch.org/education/BBC: Animal Experiments:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/hottopics/animalexperiments/index.shtmlLaboratory Animal Welfare:
http://www.mspca.org/site/PageServer?pagename=adv_Lab_Animals_landing_pagePrint Resources
Animal Experimentation and Testing: A Pro/Con Issue by Geraldine Woods
More Recommended Resources
Animal Testing: The Animal Rights Debate by Chris Hayhurst
- Medical Pioneers
Grade Level: 9-12
Subjects: Science & Technology; Health & Fitness; Reading & Language ArtsWithout medical pioneers, there would be no medical advances, no technology evolution, no progress at all. Brainstorm the word "pioneer" with your students. Ask them to name some pioneers in all fields.
Have students -- either as teams or individually -- research medical innovators and their innovations that have might have impacted students' lives. After researching past medical pioneers, you might ask students to complete a research paper on these individuals.
Have students develop a PowerPoint presentation on the innovators and their innovation. Slides should include a biography and picture of the innovator, and a description and picture of the innovation or breakthrough for which they were responsible. The second slide should include a paragraph describing how this innovation has impacted the student's life.
As an extension, ask student to design an original stamp or coin honoring one of their favorite medical pioneers. These should be put on a bulletin board, creating a classroom Hall of Fame for Medical Pioneers. Have students brainstorm how they might become a medical pioneer for the Hall of Fame; ask them to think of needed medical improvements. Could they improve crutches, injections, ambulance rides, etc.? Have a contest and put the winning idea and suggestion on the Hall of Fame.
Online Resources
Children's Hospital:
http://www.pbs.org/opb/childrenshospitalAmerican Experience: "Partners of the Heart":
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/partners/Red Gold (Pioneers and Innovators):
http://www.pbs.org/wnet/redgold/innovators/index.htmlPrint Resources
The Medical Millennium: 1000 Pioneers Who Have Contributed to the Development of Medicine Over the Last 1000 Years by Luke Anderson
More Recommended Resources
- Medical Mystery Detectives
Grade Level: 9-12
Subjects: Reading & Language Arts; Science & Technology; Health & FitnessAsk students for a show of hands of those that enjoy a good mystery. Ask students to come up with a list of characteristics of mysteries. (Clues, red herrings, detectives, culprits, etc.)
Ask students to describe a detective. What tools do they use to solve a mystery? Point out to students that another type of investigator spends the day with cotton swabs and culture dishes. Discuss which medical personnel spend the day solving medical puzzles. Discuss types of medical puzzles which the medical profession confronts.
Have students brainstorm some modern day medical mysteries. These might include SARS, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome), Gulf War Illnesses, Alzheimer's, depression, cancer, addictive behaviors, and the modern brain.
Pair students together into teams of two. Instruct students that they will work together to create a Web page that will become a warehouse and resource of information for students.
Have students become the detectives and research a medical mystery. (They can choose from the list above.) The mystery can be a physical one or a mental one. Students should provide background information, current work and people involved, and the future outlook for this mystery, and a student perspective on the mystery.
Students will place their gathered information about medical mysteries on a web page to act as a warehouse of future resources for medical research. Their completed Web page should contain:
- Title indicative of the topic chosen
- Student opinion and reaction of this medical mystery
- Background information
- Current work being done
- People (pioneers) involved (in the past and now)
- Future outlook for this medical mystery
- Links to serve as a resource
Online Resources
Online NewsHour: The Emergence of SARS:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/health/sars/index.htmlFred Friendly Seminars: Epidemic!:
http://www.fredfriendly.org/epidemic/The Forgetting: A Portrait of Alzheimers:
http://www.pbs.org/theforgetting/Centers For Disease Control and Prevention:
http://www.cdc.govPrint Resources
The Irritable Heart: The Medical Mystery of the Gulf War by by Jeff Wheelwright
More Recommended Resources
Published: January 2004